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Books by 

RUTH O. DYER 

Cloth Illustrated 

Ths Slkepy-Timk Story-Book.. $1.25 

That’s Why Stories. 1.25 

The Daytime Story-Book. 1.25 

What-Happened-Then Stories. 1.50 

The Little People of the Garden. 1.50 

The Adventures of the Ink Spots. 1.50 








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At the Picnic in Mother Goose G’ARden. 






THE ^DVENTimS 


OF THE 


INK^SPOTS 


By 

HuTH 0. Dyer 

Iliustrated By 

LJ. Bridgman 

V 



Boston 

Lothrop. Lee Shepard Co. 







©Cl A71178S 

- I 

SEP10?3 


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DEDICATED TO 


THE 3 B ENGLISH CLUB OF 
THE MEMMINGER HIGH SCHOOL, 
CHARLESTON, S. C. 


CHAPTER PAGE 

I How THE Ink Spots Came 

TO Be.I 

II On the Way to Story 

Land.21 

III The Ink Spots Invite the 

People Who Live in 
Mother Goose Garden 
TO A Picnic . . . .36 

IV The Posters and Who 

Saw Them . . . .52 

V The Picnic and Who 

Came to It . . . . 61 

VI The Games They Played 

AT THE Picnic ... 77 


VI 






Contents 


OHAPTBB 

VII The Ink Spots Have 
Their First Ride in an 
Aeroplane . . . . 

VIII The Ink Spots Take the 
Measles. 

IX The Ink Spots Go to 
School . 

X The Zoo in Mother Goose 
Garden . 

XI The Little People of 
Mother Goose Garden 
Give a Fair .... 

XII Mrs. Scribble Finds the 
Ink Spots and Takes 
' Them Back Home . 


Vll 

PAGB 

87 

98 

II4 

126 

I4I 

I5I 




THE BLACK INK SPOT 
FAMILY 


Mother Black Ink Spot. 
Father Black Ink Spot. 
Inky Black Ink Spot. 
Roly-Poly Black Ink Spot. 
Slim Lim Black Ink Spot. 
Pouty Black Ink Spot. 

Lazy Black Ink Spot. 
Cross-Patch Black Ink Spot. 

Baby Black Ink Spot. 

• • • 

vni 


4 






THE RED INK SPOT 
FAMILY 


Father Red Ink Spot. 
Mother Red Ink Spot. 
Grandfather Red Ink Spot. 
Grandmother Red Ink Spot. 
Ruby Red Ink Spot. 

Happy Red Ink Spot. 
Grouchy Red Ink Spot. 
Thankful Red Ink Spot. 
Baby Red Ink Spot. 


«r 



» 


/ 



I 

HOW THE INK SPOTS 
CAME TO BE 

F course everything 
must have a begin¬ 
ning. There was a 
beginning for you, 
there was a beginning for me, and 
there was a beginning for the Ink 
Spots. It all came about in this 
way: So many stories had been 

























































2 


The Adventures 



written about fairies and the peo¬ 
ple of Story Land, and the ink 
from the great cut-glass ink-bottle 
had been called on so often to help 
write them, that all the little Black 

Ink Spots thought that there was 
no place on earth that they desired 

to see more than they did Story 
Land. 

The Red Ink Spots in the small 
cut-glass ink-bottle had not often 
been called on to help, but one 
day, when the stoppers were out 
of both bottles, the Black Ink 
Spots called across to the Red Ink 
Spots, “Just as soon as we get a 
really good chance, let’s run away 





Of the Ink Spots 3 


to Story Land and see all the 
strange things we have been hear¬ 
ing about so long.” 

The little Red Ink Spot peo¬ 
ple clapped their hands so hard 
at this fine idea that bright red 
bubbles with little glistening lights 
in them formed on top of the bot¬ 
tle of red ink, and Mr. Scribble, 
the owner of the cut-glass ink-bot¬ 
tle, said, “How queer this red ink 
looks!” That made the little Red 
Ink Spots more careful, for if Mr. 
Scribble had thought for a mo¬ 
ment that his black or his red ink 
was in danger, he would have put 
the stoppers in so tight that the 




























4 


The Adventures 



Ink Spots would never have had 
the chance to run away. 

And so when Mr. Scribble 
rubbed his eyes and looked at the 
bottle of red ink again, all the lit¬ 
tle Red Ink Spots had become as 
quiet as could be. He did not 
worry any more, and when he put 
the stoppers in the bottles he put 
them in ever so loose, and went 
away to read a book in the beauti¬ 
ful garden where the birds sang 
and the flowers bloomed all day. 

But Little Boy Scribble wasn’t 
reading books in the beautiful 
garden where the birds sang and 
the flowers bloomed all day. Oh, 











5 


Of the Ink Spots 


no, he was roaming about the 
house, trying to find something 
with which he could play, for it 
was nurse’s afternoon out and no 
one was giving Boy Scribble 
much attention. 

He had been enjoying pulling 
the cat’s tail and hearing her mew, 
but the cat grew tired before Boy 
Scribble did and went into the 
beautiful garden where the birds 
sang and the flowers bloomed all 
day, and was enjoying the sun¬ 
shine far better than she could 
have enjoyed Boy Scribble. 

It did not take Boy Scribble 
long to find out that there was 






































































6 The Adventures 



something very interesting on 
Father Scribble’s desk, nor did it 
take him long to find that the 
quickest and best way to get there 
was by way of the footstool 
pushed up very close to the desk- 
chair, and from the desk-chair he 
could reach everything on the 
beautiful big oak desk. There 
were several very sharp pencils 
and a pad of blank paper. But 
when Boy Scribble finished, the 
pencils were not sharp and the pa¬ 
per was by no means blank. The 
pencils would scarcely leave a 
mark, and the paper was filled 
with queer things which looked 





Of the Ink Spots 7 

like those on the last page. 

Then there were soft erasers 
which Boy Scribble felt sure 
looked good enough to eat, and 
they found their way to his mouth 
quickly. But, no, they did not 
taste one bit like candy and he 
soon spit them out into the pencil- 
tray and tried putting as many pa¬ 
per-clips on his small fingers as he 
could get on them. When one 
hand was quite full, he waved it 
very happily over his head, and 
away flew all the paper-clips. 
This made Boy Scribble laugh and 
laugh, and he tried it again and 
again. 





8 


The Adventures 


\ 



“Oh!” said Boy Scribble. If 
he had been larger and more able 
to say what he thought, I 
am sure he would have said, 
“What a beautiful cut-glass ink- 
bottle!” But he could only say,, 
“Oh! Oh!” and think all the rest. 
Down went his chubby hand on 
the stopper of the ink-bottle 
which was filled with the Black 
Ink Spot people. 

My! how the little Black Ink 
Spot people held their breath as 
that chubby little fist came down 
plump on the roof of their house. 
They thought that it was an earth¬ 
quake, for the bottle shook as it 

















9 


Of the Ink Spots 



had never shaken before. Then 
the next minute they did not know 
what to think, for their house had 
tumbled over on one side and the 
roof was gone and all the little 
Black Ink Spots were rolling and 
tumbling out. Out came Inky 
Black Ink Spot. He was the 
blackest of all. Out came Roly- 
Poly Black Ink Spot, who was so 
fat that he could hardly keep up 
with the others. Out came Slim 
Lim Black Ink Spot, who was so 
thin that he looked much like a 
bean-pole. Out came Pouty 
Black Ink Spot, who was always 
pouting and fretting over every- 






lo The Adventures 



thing. If the day was rainy, she 
wanted sunshine. Rain made the 
ink-bottle house so dark. If the 
day was sunny, she wanted clouds. 
The glare of the sun on the ink- 
bottle house hurt her eyes. Then 
there was Lazy Black Ink Spot, 
who was far too lazy to trouble 
about anything. He was always 
the last one to think of doing any¬ 
thing. Next came Cross-Patch 
Black Ink Spot. She was so cross 
because she had been disturbed 
that her lips were drawn down at 
the corners and she looked like 
fifty frowns all in one. Then 
came Father Black Ink Spot, and 







Of the Ink Spots ll 




after him came Mother Black Ink 
Spot, who had been delayed in get¬ 
ting out because Baby Black Ink 
Spot had caught her foot in the 
dregs at the bottom of the ink-bot¬ 
tle and Mother Black Ink Spot 
had had such a hard time getting 
it loose! 

“Run, children, run! We are 
off for Story Land!” cried Father 
Black Ink Spot, and how those lit¬ 
tle Black Ink Spots did run! 
They ran straight over the top of 
the desk, down the side and off on 
the floor. Splish! Splash! Splat¬ 
ter! they went. Inky Black Ink 


12 


The Adventures 


All the little Red Ink Spots 
heard the commotion and, oh, how 
they wanted to get out of their 
house and go, too! 

Boy Scribble then cried, “Goo! 
Goo!” and laughed and clapped 
his hands. Then, seeing the 
pretty cut-glass ink-bottle which 
"held the Red Ink Spot people, he 
picked it up by its loosely placed 
stopper and down came the Red 
Ink Spot house “kerplunk” on the 
desk. My, how those little Red 
Ink Spots did rush out of their 
house as soon as the door was 
opened! They called to the 
Black Ink Spots, “Wait, we’re 






Of the Ink Spots 13 


coming! We’re coming!” and all 
the little Black Ink Spots waited 
in a crowd down on the floor by 
the desk. 

Ruby Red Ink Spot led the line. 
She was so red that nothing could 
be redder. Her hair was red, her 
face was red, and her hands were 
just as red as red could be. 

Happy Red Ink Spot came next. 
She was always singing and danc¬ 
ing, and nothing could make her 
sad. People always liked to have 
Happy Red Ink Spot around, for 
she always made them feel better. 
Grouchy Red Ink Spot came out 
grumbling because Happy Red 




14 


The Adventures 



Ink Spot in her hurry had stepped 
on his toes. 

Thankful Red Ink Spot came 
out, leading Baby Red Ink Spot 
by the hand, for even though she 
wanted to catch up with the Black 
Ink Spot family, she did not for¬ 
get the baby who could not hurry 
as the others did. 

Grandfather Red Ink Spot and 
Grandmother Red Ink Spot came 
next. They were old and feeble 
and much preferred staying in the 
snug red ink-bottle to running 
over the country looking for 
Story Land. Still, they couldn’t 
stay all alone in a house which had 



Of the Ink Spots 15 


tumbled over on its side, and, be¬ 
sides, they couldn’t think of let¬ 
ting all the little Red Ink Spots 
go out into the great, wide world 
without them. 

“Why,” exclaimed Grand¬ 
mother Red Ink Spot to Grand¬ 
father Red Ink Spot, “who would 
darn Ruby’s, Happy’s, Grouchy’s, 
Thankful’s, and Baby’s stockings 
if I were not there?” 

“Who would whittle out little 
wooden boats for the youngsters 
to sail on the water of Story Land 
if I were not there?” asked Grand¬ 
father Red Ink Spot. 

Oh, yes, they had to go, so off 













i6 


The Adventures 



they trudged, helping each other 
as much as they could. 

Last of all came Mother Red 
Ink Spot and Father Red Ink 
Spot, and it was a good thing that 
they got out when they did, for 
just as they reached the edge of 
the desk and were ready for a to¬ 
boggan slide down the side of the 
desk. Boy Scribble cried, “Goo! 
Goo!” again and flung the Black 
Ink Spot house and the Red Ink 
Spot house off the desk down on 
the floor, and then, because he 
could not find anything else on 
the desk with which to play, he be¬ 
gan to cry. When Mrs. Scribble 













Of the Ink Spots 17 


came in and saw all the Black Ink 
Spots huddled together on the 
floor and all the Red Ink Spots 
huddled together on her beautiful 
carpet, she called “Boo,” the big 
fat negro boy who did chores 
about the house, to come and get 
them out as quickly as possible. 

“Boo” took a cloth and gathered 
all the Black Ink Spots up in it. 
Then he took another cloth and 
gathered all the Red Ink Spots up 
in it. He took these two cloths 
out and flung them into the trash- 
barrel at the back of the house. 

“What a place for respectable 
Ink Spots to be!” scolded Grand- 









i8 


The Adventures 



mother Red Ink Spot. “It would 
have been far better had we stayed 
on the table. Perhaps they would 
have put us back in our house. I 
am sure our rent was paid in full 
by good hard work each day. 
Why should they put us out?” 

Then Pouty pouted, Cross- 
'Patch fussed, and Grouchy 
scolded, but Roly-Poly rolled over 
and over with delight and Slim 
Lim turned a double somersault, 
while Happy and Thankful said 
that this was only the first stop on 
the road to Story Land and when 
their train really started, they 



Of the Ink Spots 19 


would go through in a hurry. 

Ruby Red Ink Spot and Inky 
Black Ink Spot said there were 
really more interesting things in 
that trash-barrel than they had 
ever seen before. Inky Black Ink 
Spot found an old scrap-book 
while Ruby Red Ink Spot found 
a rag doll. 

Mother Red Ink Spot and 
Mother Black Ink Spot worried 
for fear the little Ink Spots would 
get germs among so much trash, 
but Father Black Ink Spot said 
that if they shut their mouths and 
breathed through their noses there 





20 The Ink Spots 

was little danger, and Father Red 
Ink Spot cautioned all the little 
Ink Spots not to put their fingers 
in their mouths. 




II 

ON THE WAY TO 
STORY LAND 

PPY Red Ink Spot 

and Thankful Red Ink 

Spot were right. The 

trash-barrel was only 

the first stop on the road to Story 

Land, and when they really started 

they did go through in a hurry. 

They stayed in the trash-barrel 

only until the next morning. Just 

21 
















22 The Adventures 

long enough for Inky Black Ink 
Spot to finish looking at his scrap¬ 
book and for Ruby Red Ink Spot 
to grow tired of playing with her 
doll. 

They were all waiting for some¬ 
thing to happen the next morn¬ 
ing, when the sound: “Trash! 
Trash! Here is your trash-man!” 
sounded out on the clear morning 
air. 

“What is that?” asked Grand¬ 
mother Red Ink Spot. 

“I’ll see,” said Father Red Ink 
Spot, and he poked his head up far 
enough to see a street cart driven 
by an old colored man, and “Boo” 

Ol 




Of the Ink Spots 23 


pointing out the trash-barrel to 
him. 

Father Red Ink Spot barely had 
time to call out at the little Ink 
Spots, “Hold on tight! Here is 
where we change cars 1“ 

The old trash-man lifted the bar¬ 
rel on his shoulder and it was only 
the matter of a few minutes before 
all the little Ink Spots, Red and 
Black, were in the cart, jogging 
on toward Story Land. 

It was such a beautiful morning 
and the sun shone so brightly that 
even Pouty, Cross-Patch and 
Grouchy forgot to be cross, and 
Grandmother Red Ink Spot for- 







,s 


24 The Adventures 



got how comfortable the cut-glass 
ink-bottle had been. 

The old cart jogged along over 
the road and made so much noise 
that it was useless to try to talk, 
but all the Ink Spots were so 
happy that they couldn’t keep still, 
so they jumped up and down and 
tried to catch the green leaves 
which hung low on the trees under 
which they passed. 

Once Slim Lim Black Ink Spot 
jumped so high that the old trash 
man turned around and said, 
“Humph! If this wind keeps up. 
I’ll lose all my trash before I get 
to the dump-heap.” 



•• 


Of the Ink Spots 25 


But his remark did not trouble 
the Ink Spots at all. They were 
on their way to Story Land and 
were so happy over it that they did 
not care who knew it. 

Then something happened 
which might have been dreadful 
had it not turned out all right after 
all. The cart turned into a lane 
which ran through an apple or¬ 
chard. On either side the trees 
were hanging full of the largest, 
reddest apples you ever saw. The 
little Red Ink Spots and the Little 
Black Ink Spots all jumped up 
and tried to touch the apples. 
Slim Lim and Cross-Patch and 




26 


The Adventures 



Grouchy succeeded, and Roly- 
Poly tried so hard that he got black 
in the face. At last he made one 
great big jump and—what do you 
think happened? Why, his little 
trousers caught on the tree and he 
couldn’t get down. Of course the 
cart moved on out from under him 
and left him hanging by the seat 
of his trousers to the tree. He 
cried and kicked, but it did not do 
any good. 

Mother and Father Black Ink 
Spot cried, “Stop this cart! Stop 
this cart!” but the cart went rum¬ 
bling on. They tried every way 
they could think of to make the 



Of the Ink Spots 27 

old man hear, but he drove on, 
singing as he went: 

“ ‘Roll, Jordan, roll, 

Roll, Jordan, roll, 

I wan’ ter go ter Heb’n when I die. 
Fur ter hyear sweet Jordan roll.’ ” 

Soon they had gone so far that 
they could not see Roly-Poly 
Black Ink Spot at all. All the lit¬ 
tle Ink Spots declared that they did 
not care to go to Story Land if 
Roly-Poly had to be left hanging 
to the tree. 

Then what do you think hap¬ 
pened? Why, a great puff of 
wind came and blew so hard that 




I 


28 


The Adventures 


* 



it took the old trash-man’s hat 
right off his head and took it sail¬ 
ing down the lane. Over and 
over it went and the trash-man had 
to stop his horses and run after it. 

“Serves him right,” said Pouty 
Black Ink Spot. “He would not 
stop when he could help us, and 
now he has to have all the trouble 
of running after his hat.” 

On ran the trash-man, scolding 
because the wind had played him 
such a trick and do you know, that 
hat did not stop until it got right 
under the tree on which Roly-Poly 
was hanging! Just as the trash- 
man picked it up and put it on 








Of the Ink Spots 29 


his head, the twig on which Roly- 
Poly was caught broke, and down 
he came right on top of the hat. 
He crouched away down in the 
middle of the crown, for he did 
not want the old man to see him. 
And when the trash-man took his 
seat in the cart, off jumped Roly- 
Poly right into his mother’s arms. 

This made all the Ink Spots so 
happy that they forgot to notice 
where they were going, and were 
much surprised when the cart 
stopped right in the middle of a 
field crowded with old tin cans and 
rubbish. A number of other 
carts were standing near. Some 





30 


The Adventures 



were empty, and others were un¬ 
loading their trash, 

“Story Land, indeed,” said 
Grandmother Red Ink Spot when 
they had been dumped near an 
old empty tomato-can. “It’s the 
dump-heap. Oh, my beautiful 
cut-glass ink-bottle house!” 

“There, there, there!” said 
Grandfather Red Ink Spot. 
“Don’t cry I Perhaps we shall be 
able to get a ride back.” 

“I am not so worried about all 
the grown-up Ink Spots,” said 
Mother Black Ink Spot, “but the 
children are so exposed to germs 
here. The baby will crawl and 






31 


< 


Of the Ink Spots 


get her hands into everything, and 
whatever she touches finds its way 
to her mouth.” 

Lazy Black Ink Spot crawled 
into the empty tomato-can and 
seemed quite happy, while Roly- 
Poly declared that anything is bet¬ 
ter than hanging for the rest of 
your life to an apple-tree by the 
seat of your trousers. 

Then Pouty, Cross-Patch, and 
Grouchy said that they thought 
hanging to an apple-tree where 
one could at least see pleasant 
things would be far better than liv¬ 
ing on the dump-heap. But you 
see they had not tried hanging 





32 


The Adventures 



to the apple-tree, and Roly-Poly 
had tried it. 

In fact they were all so busy 
finding fault that they did not no¬ 
tice that a dreadful thunder-storm 
was coming until a loud peal of 
thunder made them all jump, and 
a large rain-drop knocked Baby 
Black Ink Spot right over on her 
head. 

Then how the rain came down 
and how the lightning flashed! 
The Red Ink Spots all crowded to¬ 
gether inside the empty tomato- 
can and Father Black Ink Spot 
found an empty salmon-can for 
his family, but they were all 



Of the Ink Spots 33 


drenched long before the thun¬ 
der-shower was over. 

But even worse than the rain 
was the high wind which arose be¬ 
fore the rain ceased. The Red 
Ink Spots were all very much 
afraid to stay in the tomato-can, 
for the wind blew so hard that the 
can rolled over and over, so they 
came out and sat on a heap of rub¬ 
bish. 

The Black Ink Spots were more 
fortunate, for the salmon-can 
lodged between a large rock and 
an old iron kettle, but it was so 
placed that the water ran right 
into it and, for fear of being 




\ 


34 The Adventures 

drowned, the Black Ink Spots 
sought refuge with their friends 
on the rubbish heap. 

“My! but I am glad that I am 
not on the apple-tree now,” said 
Roly-Poly Black Ink Spot, “for 
this wind is certainly blowing 
hard.” 

“I wish that I were in the cut- 
glass ink-bottle,” said Grand¬ 
mother Red Ink Spot. 

Then there came such a great 
blast of wind that the Ink Spots 
could no longer express them¬ 
selves. It took up the cloth in 
which the Black Ink Spots were 
securely wrapped, and whirled 








Oj the Ink Spots 35 

them away ever so far until they 
came breathlessly against a high 
wall far away from the dump- 
heap. Then, before they had 
time to catch their breath, it 
whirled them up and up and over 
the wall into the most beautiful 
garden that could be imagined. 

They had just time to blink their 
eyes and look around, when the 
Red Ink Spots came whirling up 
and settled down beside them. 

The Ink Spots, Red and Black, 
little and big, knew at once that 
this was Story Land, and that after 
much wandering they had reached 
the best spot in all the world. 







m 

THE INK SPOTS INVITE THE PEOPLE 
WHO LIVE IN MOTHER GOOSE GARDEN 
TO A PICNIC 




RANDFATHER and 
Grandmother Red Ink 
Spot declared that this 
^ was a thousand mil¬ 
lion times better than the cut-glass 
ink-bottle. Mother Red Ink 
Spot and Mother Black Ink Spot 

36 















37 


The Ink Spots 


said that now Baby Red Ink 
Spot and Baby Black Ink Spot 
could play without fear of germs. 
Cross-Patch, Pouty, and Grouchy 
in their delight forgot to be cross, 
to pout, and to frown. Happy 
and Thankful were more happy 
and thankful than ever. Roly- 
Poly lay on the grass and rolled 
over and over with delight, while 
Slim Lim jumped and turned so 
many somersaults that he surely 
would have injured himself if 
he had not been double-jointed. 
Lazy Black Ink Spot lay on the 
grass and gazed at the blue sky, 
contented that at last he did not 





















38 The Adventures 



have to exert himself. Inky Black 
Ink Spot and Ruby Red Ink 
Spot found much to interest them, 
and Father Black Ink Spot and 
[Father Red Ink Spot looked at 
their happy families and said that 
they were glad they had found 
this beautiful garden. 

Father Black Ink Spot looked 
very wise as he said, “There is just 
one thing more for us to do. We 
must meet the people who live in 
this wonderful garden.” 

“I’ll tell you what,” said Mother 
Black Ink Spot. “Let’s give a 
picnic and put up posters all over 
the garden, telling about it, so 



I'J 


Of the Ink Spots 39 


that the people who live here will 
see them and know that we expect 
them to come.” 

“That is a clever idea,” said Fa¬ 
ther Red Ink Spot, “but who will 
make the posters?” 

“Inky Black Ink Spot will make 
them,” said Mother Black Ink 
Spot. “He always has written so 
plainly that his letters could be 
read a long way off.” 

“Ruby Red Ink Spot will help 
him,” said Mother Red Ink Spot, 
“for she writes very plainly, too. 
Mr. Scribble always said that her 
letters were so red and plain that 
they could be read easily.” 






40 


The Adventures 



,!///(; 


'^^'mimmi' 







Gmo 

picnk 

ro/^c/i^ovi' 



COMB MOMG 


fsioRno*^ 





So Inky Black Ink Spot and 
Ruby Red Ink Spot set to work to 
make posters. They did not want 
any one to see the posters until 
they were finished, so they went 
behind a large lilac bush and 
Inky Black made his posters 
while Ruby Red watched and 
chased off Cross Patch, Slim 
Lim, Grouchy, and Happy. 
Then Ruby Red made hers while 
Inky Black kept the other little 
Ink Spots away. 

Inky Black made four posters 
and Ruby Red made four, and 
you can see how they looked. 

When Father Red Ink Spot 



, 

TMt fAMtlY 

r* rN< 

TicT/ic 

0* fft tVKSrOTf 







Of the Ink Spots 41 


saw them, he laughed until the 
tears ran down his face, and he 
was so afraid that his tears would 
take all the color out of his face 
that he begged them to take 
away the posters until he could 
get his face straight. Then he 
drew down his upper lip and shut 
his mouth tight, but just as soon 
as he looked at the posters again, 
he laughed harder than ever. 

They had a hard time deciding 
who should put up the posters. 
But at last it was decided that Slim 
Lim should do it because he was 
so tall that he could reach up high 
and hang them so they would be 




42 


The Adventures 


seen. But Happy Red Ink Spot 
went along to help. 

They had to go from one end 
of Mother Goose Garden to the 
other to hang the posters, for you 
must know by this time that this 
wonderful garden was none other 
than the garden in which the 
, people of Mother Goose Land 
^ lived. 

First, they walked a whole long 
mile through the beautiful gar¬ 
den. It was the very same mile 
that the Crooked Man walked. 
Slim Lim and Happy walked and 
walked and walked until they 
came to the crooked stile where 

¥ 





Of the Ink Spots 43 


the Crooked Man found the 
crooked sixpence. 

“We had better hang the first 
poster on the crooked stile,” said 
Slim Lim, “for the Crooked Man 
found one crooked sixpence here, 
and he will certainly come back to 
find another. When he returns 
and sees the poster, he will know 
all about the picnic.” 

Then they went up Primose 
Hill and they found it just as dirty 
as it was the day the pretty Miss 
climbed it and dropped a curtsy. 
Right on the very top of Primose 
Hill on a morning-glory vine they 
hung another poster. 





44 


The Adventures 



As they were coming down 
Primrose Hill they came to the 
well in which Little Johnny 
Green put the cat and where 
Great Johnny Stout pulled the cat 
out. Here they hung the poster 
which looked like the one here. 

They had almost given up find¬ 
ing a place where they could hang 
another poster when Slim Lim 
said, “Oh, look! There is the 
bramble-bush into which that 
Man Who Was Wondrous Wise 
jumped and scratched out both his 
eyes. And there is another right 
beside it into which he jumped 
and scratched them in again. 















Of the Ink Spots 45 


We will hang the poster on the 
bramble-bush.” 

“Oh, what is that?” exclaimed 
Happy Red Ink Spot, as they saw 
a muddy little pond behind the 
bramble-bush. 

“I know! I know!” said Slim 
Lim. “That is the puddle into 
which Doctor Foster stepped^ 
when he went to Gloster in the 

P 

shower of rain. I do not dare to 
go near it, for the doctor went 
down to his middle and was afraid 
to go to Gloster again.” 

“Well, we can’t hang a poster 
in a puddle, so we might as well 
run along,” said Happy. “Hey! 




46 The Adventures 



that is a good place right over 
there on that wall!” 

“Yes, yes,” said Slim Lim, “I 
am sure that is the very stone wall 
on which Humpty Dumpty sat.” 

“It surely is,” said Happy, as 
he looked closely at the ground 
by the wall, “for here is a hole 
where he fell and there are any 
number of prints of horses’ hoofs, 
and men’s footprints, too, where 
Humpty Dumpty fell and where 
all the king’s horses and all the 
king’s men tried, but could not 
put him together again.” 

So they hung a poster on the 
stone wall in the very place where 


















Of the Ink Spots 47 

they thought Humpty Dumpty 
had sat. 

They had no trouble finding the 
garden which belonged to Mary, 
Mary, Quite Contrary, for the sil¬ 
ver bells rang out and told them 
which way to go. They heard 
the bells long before they saw 
garden, and when they came in 
sight of it, the cockle shells and 
the pretty maids all in a row told 
them beyond a doubt what they 
had found. They hung one of 
their best posters on the tallest 
and prettiest maid of all. 

“What a funny-looking thing 
that is!” said Slim Lim, pointing 






The Adventures 



toward the side of the garden 
where the green bank sloped 
down to the water’s edge. “It 
looks somewhat like the things 
Mr. Scribble used to wear on his 
feet, but is ever so much larger.’’ 

“Let’s go over and see what it 
is,’’ said Happy. “The sun is not 
down yet and we have plenty of 
- time.’’ 

“Why it is a great, big shoe,’’ 
said Slim Lim as they came near. 
“Don’t you remember a story 
which reads: ‘There was an old 
woman who lived in a shoe’? But 
where can all the children be; and 
where is the old woman herself?” 




Of the Ink Spots 49 

“There are ever so many little 
bowls of broth on the table, but 
no bread,” said Happy, looking 
into the window. “I guess she 
whipped them all soundly and 
sent them to bed, and I dare say 
she has gone out to have a good 
time, for I do not see how she can 
have any peace with all those chil¬ 
dren around her all day. We 
shall put this poster on the side of 
the shoe and when she comes in, 
she will see it.” 

“How beautiful the sea looks!” 
said Slim Lim. “See that yellow 
thing floating near the bank! 
That must be the bowl in which 





































50 


The Adventures 




the Three Wise Men of Gotham 
went to sea. I should like to meet 
the three men and ask them about 
their trip, but I do not see any 
place here to hang a poster. We 
have only one poster left and the 
sun is going down, so we must 
hurry.” 

“There is a fine place to hang 
it,” said Happy, “right in that 
bed of pickled peppers. See how 
high the peppers grow!” 

“The very place,” said Slim 
Lim, “for Peter Piper will be sure 
to come in the evening when it is 
cool to pick the pickled peppers.” 








Of the Ink Spots 51 


Then they hung the last poster 
in the middle of the pickled-pep¬ 
per patch and scampered away 
home as fast as they could. 












IV 

THE POSTERS 
AND mo SAW THEM 

UCH a time as there 
was in Mother Goose 
Garden when Slim 
Lim and Happy 
turned their faces toward home 
after hanging the posters. 

I am sure they could scarcely 
have reached home before the 

52 











The Ink Spots 53 


Crooked Man came back from 
buying a crooked cat, and as he 
stepped over the crooked stile, he 
saw the poster. As soon as he 
saw it he began laughing a 
crooked laugh, and he put a 
crooked finger up beside a crooked 
nose and said in a very crooked 
voice, “I’ll go if I have to walk a 
hundred crooked miles. I’ll take 
Doctor Fell with me. Most peo¬ 
ple do not like him, but for all 
that, I am fond of him in my 
crooked way.” 

Just as the sun was going down. 
Jack and Jill came over Primrose 
Hill with their pail of water. 






54 


The Adventures 



When they saw the poster they 
put down their pail and laughed 
and laughed until Jack came very 
near falling down and breaking 
his crown all over again. 
In fact, they laughed so loudly 
that Cross-Patch, who had shut 
her door tight and was sitting by 
the fire spinning with her face all 
drawn up in a frown, heard them 
and went to the door to see what 
was the matter. When Jack and 
Jill saw her, they ran down and 
told her all about it. 

Little Bo-Peep and Little Boy 
Blue came by the bramble-bushes 




Of the Ink Spots 55 


on their way home from tending 
their sheep. 

“What is that?” said Little Boy 
Blue. 

“Oh, I wonder if it can be my 
lost sheep!” said little Bo-Peep. 
“It looks white.” 

But when they came up nearer, 
they found that it was the poster 
which Slim Lim had fastened to 
the bramble-bush. 

“We’ll go! We’ll go!” said 
Little Boy Blue and Bo-Peep to¬ 
gether, “and we will get The Little 
Boy Who Lives in the Lane to 
take care of our sheep for us. 




1 



The Adventures 


56 

You know our black sheep love 
him so much they want to give 
him a whole bagful of wool every 
time they are sheared.” 

As they passed the stone wall 
they saw Little Nan Etticoat and 
Little Tommy Tucker, standing 
before the poster, spelling out the 
words. Nan Etticoat had been 
standing in her white petticoat so 
long that she had almost gone 
away to nothing, for you know 
that the longer she stands, the 
shorter she grows. Little Bo- 
Peep was so afraid that Nan Etti¬ 
coat would go away right before 
her eyes that she called Tommy 


Of the Ink Spots 57 


Snooks and Bessy Brooks who 
were walking past to come and 
help get her home as quickly as 
possible. 

Mistress Mary found the poster 
in her garden when she came 
out after the sun went down to 
water her flowers, and she told the 
Pieman who was passing on his 
way home from the fair to be sure 
to tell Simple Simon about it 
when he saw him. 

Of course when the Old 
Woman Who Lived in a Shoe 
came home she saw the poster on 
the side of her house, and strange 
to say, it did not make her laugh 






58 The Adventures 

at all; it made her quite cross. 
You see, she had so many children 
and they worried her so that she 
did not know what to do, and she 
was so in the habit of getting 
cross that she got that way for no 
reason at all. When she read the 
poster she made all the children 
get out of bed, then she whipped 
them all soundly and sent them to 
bed again. But she promised 
them before she sent them to bed 
that they should all go to the pic¬ 
nic the next day. 

When Peter Piper went out to 
pick his pickled peppers, he found 






Of the Ink Spots 59 

Jack Be Nimble and Miss Muf- 
fet there reading the poster. 

“Well, well, well! What have 
we here? An invitation to a pic¬ 
nic! I will get my work done 
early so that I can get to bed and 
have a good night’s rest. Then I 
can get up early and go. Jack 
Be Nimble, you be quick and help 
me, and Miss Muffet, you may sit 
on that tuffet and watch us, for I 
would not have you do anything 
harder than eat curds and whey.” 

Now, I could not tell you how 
many of the people of Mother 
Goose Garden read the posters 





6o 


The Ink Spots 



and prepared to go to the picnic, 
but I do know that most of those 
who read them laughed and 
laughed and said that they cer¬ 
tainly wanted to see the Black 
Ink Spots and the Red Ink Spots 
who could plan such a picnic. 






V 

THE PICNIC AND WHO 
CAME TO IT 

HE next morning was 
bright and fair and 
quite an ideal day for 
the picnic. 

“I feel as if something were go¬ 
ing to happen,” said Grand¬ 
mother Red Ink Spot when she 

came down to breakfast. 

61 











62 


The Adventures 




“That is because you went to 
bed all tired out last night,” said 
Grandfather Red Ink Spot. “You 
have not had enough sleep.” 

“You can always find a reason 
for my feeling that something is 
going to happen,” said Grand¬ 
mother Red Ink Spot, “but you 
know just as well as I do that 
when I feel that way, something 
always does happen.” 

“That is certainly so,” said 
Mother Red Ink Spot. “You re¬ 
member the last time Grand¬ 
mother felt that way Mrs. Scrib¬ 
ble’s dog climbed on the desk and 
turned the electric lamp over on 



I 


Of the Ink Spots 63 


top of our cut-glass ink-bottle 
house and we had a regular earth¬ 
quake.” 

“Quite so! Quite so!” agreed 
Father Red Ink Spot, “but let’s 
forget it, at least until we eat our 
breakfast.” 

All the Ink Spots did try to for¬ 
get it. That is, every one except 
Grandmother. She kept remind¬ 
ing the others of it by sighing and 
looking uneasy all the time. 

Just as they were finishing 
breakfast. Mother Black Ink 
Spot came in all excited, as if 
something had happened. She 
talked so fast that all the rest of 





The Adventures 


the family could hear was: “I for¬ 
got! I forgot! So did you! 
So did you!” 

“Forgot what?” asked Mother 
Red Ink Spot. 

“The dinner for the picnic. 
The most important thing of all.” 

“I told you so,” said Grand¬ 
mother Red Ink Spot. “The 
next time I feel that something is 
going to happen, you’ll know that 
I understand what I am talking 
about.” 

“What shall we do? What 
shall we do?” said all the Ink 
Spots at once. “A picnic and 
not a thing to eat!” 





Of the Ink Spots 65 

“Well,” said Father Red Ink 
Spot, who always believed in mak¬ 
ing the best of everything, “we 
shall just have to sing for them. 

‘If all the world were paper, 

And all the sea were ink, 

What should we do for bread and 
cheese? 

What should we do for drink?’ 

While they were talking, they 
heard some one calling: 

“Hot cross buns! 

Hot cross buns! 

If you have no daughters 
Give them to your sons.” 













66 The Adventures 



“What luck!” cried Mother 
Red Ink Spot and Mother Black 
Ink Spot, and they rushed out with 
their arms full of cake-boxes and 
bread-boxes, while Father Red 
Ink Spot and Father Black Ink 
Spot rushed out with their pockets 
full of money. 

When they had bought all the 
hot cross buns the man had, the 
Pieman came by on his way to the 
fair. He had lemon pie, choc¬ 
olate pie, cocoanut pie, apple pie, 
peach pie, pumpkin pie, and 
every kind of pie you could name. 
Mother Red Ink Spot told him 




Of the Ink Spots 67 


that she wanted all his pies. 
When he heard this, he laughed 
and said, “I shall have to treat 
you as I did Simple Simon. 
Show me first your penny.” 

When Father Red Ink Spot 
showed him a whole pocketful of 
pennies, the pieman said that the 
fair would not see him until he 
had baked more pies. 

Now while Mother Red Ink 
Spot and Mother Black Ink 
Spot were arranging their hot 
cross buns and their pies, the 
guests who had read the posters 
began coming. 







68 The Adventures 


First came Peter, Peter, Pump¬ 
kin-Eater with his wife. She was 
riding in state in a yellow pump- 
kin-shell. The Ink Spots thought 
this very queer until Peter, Peter, 
Pumpkin-Eater explained that she 
was always getting lost as she was 
so small. Things had gone quite 
badly with her until he thought of 
keeping one of the pumpkin-shells 
from which he had scraped the 
pumpkin. He made this into a 
very comfortable house and there 
he kept her very well. When he 
wanted to move from one place 
to another all he had to do was to 
sing: 





Of the Ink Spots 69 


“Bat, bat, 

Come under my hat. 

And I’ll give you a slice of bacon: 
And when I bake. 

I’ll give you a cake. 

If I am not mistaken.” 

As soon as he had captured the 
bat, it was an easy thing to put the 
pumpkin-shell on the bat’s back 
and give him a slice of bacon and 
promise the cake on the next bak¬ 
ing-day, and away the bat would 
fly to wherever they wanted to go. 

Then came the Four-and- 
Twenty Tailors Who Went to Kill 
the Snail. They looked very 
frightened, and said that they had 





70 The Adventures 

been all unnerved ever since they 
had tried to kill the snail and she 
had put out her horns like a little 
Kyloe cow. 

When the tailors had told their 
story, all talking at once in their 
excitement, Roly-Poly Black Ink 
Spot came in in great excitement. 
“Oh, Mother, look!” he cried. 
“Here comes the queerest little 
girl. She does not look one bit 
like the children I have seen at 
Mr. Scribble’s. She is jumping 
just as if she were jumping a rope, 
yet there isn’t a single rope in 
sight.” 

“Why it is Little Jumping 



Of the Ink Spots 7i 

Joan,” said Peter, Peter, Pump¬ 
kin-Eater. “She does seem queer, 
but you will like her just the same. 
There is Curly Locks with her.” 

“Find chairs! Find chairs!” 
cried one of the tailors, “for here 
comes the Old Woman Who Lives 
in a Shoe with all her children, 
and Jack Sprat and his wife are 
with them.” 

Then the guests came so quickly 
that they could not be announced. 
There was the Old Woman Who 
Lived Under a Hill, Jack and Jill, 
Solomon Grundy, Little Polly 
Flinders, Margery Daw, Little 
Boy Blue, Bo-Peep, and all the 







The Adventures 




others who live in Mother Goose 
Wonder Garden. 

“Oh,” groaned Mother Red Ink 
Spot, when she saw how many had 
come, “my hot cross buns and my 
pies will certainly not go around 
in this crowd!” 

“Don’t worry,” said Jack Sprat, 
who happened to hear her. “It is 
a well-known fact in this garden 
that all of us have such queer tastes 
that we bring our own dinners 
with us whenever we go on a pic¬ 
nic. Now I cannot eat even a 
morsel of fat and my wife can eat 
no lean, but between us both we 
manage to lick the platter clean.” 



. • C\ 




73 


Of the Ink Spots 


“And I,” said Peter Pumpkin- 
Eater, “live almost entirely on yel¬ 
low pumpkin. That is how I get 
my name.” 

“I am so glad that you did not 
prepare a great dinner,” said the 
Old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe, 
“for I never let my children have 
anything except broth without any 
bread, and see how they have 
thrived on that!” 

Humpty Dumpty declared that 
he had not been able to eat a hearty 
meal for ever so long. In fact, 
he had been on a diet ever since he 
had sat on a wall and had that 
dreadful fall. 




74 


The Adventures 


Miss Muffet, it seemed, had not 
eaten a thing for days, except 
curds and whey, while Curly 
Locks made her meals of straw¬ 
berries and cream. Little Jack 
Horner ate his own special brand 
of Christmas pies. They were 
made of select plums and he 
would have no other kind. The 
Bachelor Who Lived by Himself 
had so much bread and cheese on 
his pantry shelves that he was glad 
to bring it to the picnic for the use 
of all, for the rats and the mice 
would not give him any peace 
while it remained on his shelves. 

* 

The Queen of Hearts had brought 







Of the Ink Spots 75 

a whole basketful of tarts, for 
she said if she left them at home the 
Knave of Hearts would be sure to' 
steal them and then there would 
be such a scene, for the King of 
Hearts always beat him for 
stealing. Little Tommy Tittle- 
mouse brought a great basket 
full of fishes which he had caught 
in other men’s ditches. Jack and 
Jill brought all the nice cold water 
the crowd could drink, while 
Tom, the Piper’s son, brought a 
ham from his stolen pig. 

Old Mother Hubbard felt re¬ 
lieved when she saw how much the 
others had brought, for she said 



76 The Ink Spots 



when she went to her cupboard 
she found it was bare. She had 
not been able to find even a bone 
for her poor dog. Taffy, the 
Welshman, felt so sorry for the 
hungry dog that he gave him the 
leg of beef which he had stolen. 
The Old Woman Who Lived Un¬ 
der the Hill brought her baked 
apples and cranberry pies. 

So, you see, there was no 
trouble about the dinner. There 
was more than enough for all the 
guests and all the Ink Spots, too. 







VI 

THE GAMES THEY' PLAYED 
AT THE PICNIC 

HE Ink Spots had 
been so accustomed to 
living in the cut-glass 

_ ink-bottle house and 

having Mr. Scribble do all their 
thinking for them that they had 
forgotten to plan one thing for 
the picnic. 

77 











The Adventures 



When some one said, “Let’s 
play games,” Inky Black Ink 
Spot looked at Ruby Red Ink 
Spot, and Cross-Patch Black Ink 
Spot drew her lips down in a great 
out. 

“I can’t play,” said Little 
Tommy Grace, “because I have a 
pain in my face.” 

“Oh,” said Dicky Long, “I 
know how to cure pains in the 
face. I am better than Doctor 
Foster for that. I will sing you 
a funny song which will make you 
laugh and forget that there is such 
a thing as a pain.” 

Then Dicky Long sang such a 



Of the Ink Spots 79 


funny song that Little Tommy 
Grace did not complain of his pain 
again that whole day. 

“Come on, let’s play ‘Pussy Cat, 
Pussy Cat, where have you been,’ ” 
said Little Tommy Tittlemouse. 

“We don’t know how to play 
that,’’ said all the little Ink Spots. 

“All right, we will show you,” 
said Simple Simon. “Every one 
form in a ring and join hands. 
Mistress Mary, you may be Pussy 
Cat.” 

“No, no,” cried all the children 
from the shoe. “Mistress Mary 
is too contrary.” 

“Then we shall have Bo-Peep 






8 o 


The Adventures 



for Pussy Cat,” said Simple 
Simon. “Bo-Peep, go in the mid¬ 
dle of the ring. Now everybody 
in the ring go round and sing: 

“ ‘Here we go round the mulberry- 
bush, the mulberry-bush, the mul¬ 
berry bush. 

Here we go round the mulberry bush, 
so early in the morning.’ ” 


When they finished singing this 
song, they all stood and the one in 
the ring who was right in front 
of the Pussy Cat when the song 
stopped, asked: 


“Pussy Cat, Pussy Cat, 
Where have you been?” 





Of the Ink Spots 8i 


Pussy Cat answered: 


“I’ve been to London, 
To visit the queen.” 


Then the next one in the ring 
asked: 


“Pussy Cat, Pussy Cat, 
What did you do there?” 

And Pussy answered: 

“I frightened a little mouse 
under her chair.” 



The last one who asked the 
question then ran on the outside 
of the ring and Pussy Cat chased 
her. She tried to get back to the 
place in the ring which she had 






82 The Adventures 


A" 'y,. 



left before Pussy Cat caught her. 

Little Jumping Joan was the 
mouse and Bo-Peep had a hard 
time catching her, but she was 
caught just before she reached the 
place, and then she had to be 
Pussy Cat. 

All the little Ink Spot children 
liked this game ever so much, and 
they laughed heartily when the 
mouse was caught. Inky Black 
Ink Spot laughed so hard that he 
was as black in the face as the 
blackest blackberry, and Ruby 
Red Ink Spot laughed so hard that 
she grew as red in the face as the 
reddest strawberry. 



Of the Ink Spots 83 


When they grew tired of “Pussy 
Cat, Pussy Cat, where have you 
been?” Miss Muffet suggested 
that they play “Old Father Grey¬ 
beard.” 

In this game every one sat down 
in a special seat except Little Boy 
Blue who remained standing and 
was blindfolded. Little Boy Blue 
called out, “Old Father Grey¬ 
beard, without tooth or tongue!” 

Then some one from the seats 
left his chair and put his thumb on 
Little Boy Blue’s finger and said 
in as changed voice as possible: 
“Give me your finger and I’ll give 
you my thumb.” 




- 


84 


The Adventures 



If the blindfolded one could 
guess who old Father Greybeard 
was, then old Father Greybeard 
had to take the place and be blind¬ 
folded, if not, the guessing had to 
keep up until the blindfolded one 
succeeded in guessing correctly. 

Humpty Dumpty was the first 
to act as old Father Greybeard and 
he made every one laugh when he 
said in such a thick voice, “Give 
me your finger and I’ll give you 
my thumb.” 

Little Boy Blue thought surely 
it was Greedy Nan, but he was 
wrong. The next time. Little 
Tommy Tucker was old Father 




Of the Ink Spots 85 

Greybeard, and he sang out just 
as if he were singing for his sup¬ 
per: “Give me your finger and 
ril give you my thumb.” 

When Little Boy Blue heard the 
first word, he said, “Oh, I know 
you. It is Little Tommy Tucker.” 

Then came the dinner. They”^ 
took the baskets up on Primrose 
Hill and spread the tempting 
things out on nice white table¬ 
cloths. After dinner there were 
more games, and then, as it 
looked very much as if a storm 
was coming, they all decided that 
it would be wise for them to go 
home. 





86 The Ink Spots 



The Old Woman Who Lived in 
a Shoe said she had left her win¬ 
dows up and if she did not get 
home before the rain got there, her 
shoe would be soaked inside and 
out. Doctor Foster said he 
wouldn’t risk crossing that puddle 
again after a hard rain, and Little 
Bo-Peep and Little Boy Blue felt 
that they should look after their 
sheep before the storm came. 

So they all said good-bye and 
told the Ink Spots what a delight¬ 
ful day they had had. And after 
all, the clouds went by and there 
was only a little shower. 







YU 

THE INK SPOTS HAVE THEIR 
FIRST RIDE IN AN AEROPLANE 

ELL, well, well,” 
said Father Black 
Ink Spot, “that was 
certainly the best 
picnic I ever attended.” 

“I guess it was,” said Father 
Red Ink Spot, “for as far as I 

87 









88 


The Adventures 



know it was the first picnic any of 
us ever attended.” 

Father Black Ink Spot scowled, 
and I really believe they would 
have quarreled over it if Mother 
Red Ink Spot had not come in just 
then exclaiming: “Oh, do come 
and see what a queer bird is flying 
over us.” 

“Why that isn’t a bird,” said 
Father Red Ink Spot, looking up 
in the sky knowingly. “It must 
be one of those air-ships—aero¬ 
planes, I think Mr. Scribble called 
them. I once helped him correct 
a story about some.” 

“Look! Look!” said Mother 




Of the Ink Spots 89 


Red Ink Spot. “It is coming 
down.” 

And sure enough, the great 
thing was coming down right near 
them. It really was the only aero¬ 
plane the people in Mother Goose 
Garden knew. ’ It was The Old 
Woman Who Went up in a Bas¬ 
ket. She had been up seventy 
times as high as the moon. She 
had a large broom in her hand, 
and such a queer pointed cap on 
her head! 

When the basket reached the 
ground, the old woman got out, 
and, making a low bow, told them 
how sorry she was not to have been 







90 


The Adventures 



with them at the picnic. She ex¬ 
plained that her work was to keep 
the sky free from cobwebs and she 
had not been able to finish her 
task in time to come. 

“Is this an air-ship?” asked 
Father Black Ink Spot. 

At first the old woman looked 
puzzled, then she said, “If an air¬ 
ship is a carriage which takes you 
through the air, this is certainly 
one, for it does that for me every 
day. I’ll take a few of you for a 
ride if you like. My basket is 
not large enough to carry many.” 

Mother Red Ink Spot and 
Mother Black Ink Spot were 





Of the Ink Spots 91 


afraid to go themselves, and they 
did not dare trust the children in 
an aeroplane without them, but 
Father Red Ink Spot and Father 
Black Ink Spot both wanted to go, 
so in they stepped and the old wo¬ 
man gave a flourish with her 
broom and they were gone. 

Up, up, up they went over Prim¬ 
rose Hill, over the House that 
Jack built, over the Crooked 
Man’s house, over Mistress 
Mary’s garden, over the sea where 
Bobby Shaftoe went sailing, and 
up, up, up until they could not see 
Mother Goose Garden at all. 

“Now,” said the old woman 

















The Adventures 




when they were high up in the air, 
“I’ll go a little to the north and 
catch The Man from the Moon, 
for although he is not expected in 
Mother Goose Garden until day 
after to-morrow, he always comes 
down too soon. There he is 
now!’’ 

Father Red Ink Spot and Father 
Black Ink Spot both looked in the 
direction in which she pointed her 
broom and saw a queer little round 
man falling headlong down to¬ 
ward them. 

The old woman steered her bas¬ 
ket until it was right under him, 
and down he came all out of 





Of the Ink Spots 93 

breath, right at Father Red Ink 
Spot’s feet. 

“Which is the way to Nor¬ 
wich?” he asked as he scrambled 
to his feet. 

“Sit down! Sit down!” said 
the old woman. “Look in that 
tin box and you’ll find your fa¬ 
vorite dish—cold pease porridge.” 

It did not take The Man from 
the Moon long to find the tin box, 
and it took him even a shorter 
time to taste the cold pease por¬ 
ridge, but when he had tasted it, he 
jumped and screamed until Father 
Black Ink Spot and Father Red 
Ink Spot had to hold him to keep 




94 


The Adventures 



him from upsetting the basket. 

“I’ve burned my mouth! I’ve 
burned my mouth!’’ he screamed. 

“How?” asked the old woman. 

“Eating cold pease porridge,” 
said The Man from the Moon. 

Then the old woman laughed 
and laughed until the basket came 
near upsetting. 

“Hold on tight,” said the old 
woman. “I am not going to take 
you any higher than the moon this 
time, but it is just about the time 
when the cow does her wonderful 
act of jumping over the moon and 
I want you to be near so you can 









Of the Ink Spots 95 

see it. I can hear the cat playing 
her fiddle in the garden now.” 

Then up, up, up they went until 
Father Black Ink Spot grew quite 
pale and watery-looking and 
Father Red Ink Spot grew so pale 
that he was quite pink. 

“See, there is my old home,” said 
The Man from the Moon. 

“Look, look! There is the 
cow I See how she jumps 1 ” cried 
the old woman as a large white 
cow appeared and leaped over the 
moon, which went on shining as 
if nothing very wonderful had 
happened. 





96 


The Adventures 



“I do not think there are any 
more sights I can show you up 
here,” said the old woman. “We 
will go down now, and some day 
I will take you up again.” 

Father Red Ink Spot and Father 
Black Ink Spot were much re¬ 
lieved when they heard this, for 
they did not like an aeroplane as 
much as they had thought they 
would. 

When they had gone down far 
’''enough to see London Bridge and 
the top of the House that Jack 
built, they met four-and-twenty 
blackbirds flying around in the 
air. 













Of the Ink Spots 97 


“Poor birds!” said the old 
woman. “To-morrow they will 
be baked in a pie. If you go to 
Old King Cole’s Castle about 
dinner-time to-morrow you will 
have the pleasure of hearing 
the sweetest song you ever heard. 
Old King Cole will cut the pie and 
when the pie is opened the birds 
will begin to sing. Will that 
not be a dainty dish to set before 
a king?” 

Father Red Ink Spot and Father 
Black Ink Spot promised that they 
would go, but they did not then 
know what strange things to-mor¬ 
row would bring to them. 









vm 

THE INK SPOTS TAKE THE 

MEASLES 


W 



HEN Father Red 
Ink Spot and Father 
Black Ink Spot re- 

_turned from their ride 

in the aeroplane, all the Ink Spots 
gathered under a large oak-tree 
and talked until very late. 

The children wanted to know 

98 



















99 


The Ink Spots 

all about The Man from the Moon 
and just how he could burn his 
mouth eating cold pease porridge. 
Slim Lim could not hear quite 
enough about the cow jumping 
over the moon. Then they had^ 
to be told about the wonderful pie 
which Old King Cole would cut 
at dinner the next day. 

When at last they were all 
snugly tucked in bed and Mother 
Black Ink Spot was just going to 
sleep, she was awakened by a cry 
from the children’s room, and 
hastening in, she found Roly-Poly 
distressed over a bad dream he 
had dreamed. 









100 The Adventures 



“We talked too much about the 
strange things we saw on our 
ride,” said Father Black Ink Spot. 

“Indeed, I believe he has fever,” 
said Mother Black Ink Spot. 
“His face is as hot as it can be.” 

Then she felt all the children’s 
faces and, as all seemed to be hot, 
she decided it was only the excite¬ 
ment. But the next morning 
when she looked at them by day¬ 
light she found that something 
was really wrong, for Inky Black 
Ink Spot’s little black face was 
broken out in red spots and Roly- 
Poly and Slim Lim were feverish 
and fretful. 




( 


( c ( 



lOI 


Of the Ink Spots 


Mother Red Ink Spot came in 
and reported that Ruby Red’s face 
was redder than ever, and that both 
Happy and Thankful were sick 
and could not raise their heads 
from the pillow. 

“Our families have never known 
sickness before,” said Father Red 
Ink Spot, “and I do not know 
what to do, for these children are 
sick beyond a doubt.” 

“Don’t you remember that Doc¬ 
tor Fell who came to the picnic 
with The Crooked Man?”- asked 
Mother Red Ink Spot. “Sup¬ 
pose you get him to come to see 
them. Perhaps he can give them 





102 The Adventures 



some medicine which will help 
them.” 

“I do not like Doctor Fell,” 
said Pouty Black Ink Spot, who 
was just beginning to break out in 
red splotches. 

“Why don’t you like him?” 
asked Father Black Ink Spot. 

“I do not know,” said Pouty, 
“why I do not like him, but I have 
heard a rhyme about him which 
shows just how I feel. 


“ ‘I do not like thee, Doctor Fell, 
The reason why I can not tell. 

But this I know, and know full well, 
I do not like thee. Doctor Fell.’ ” 



Of the Ink Spots I 03 


“Well, if you feel that way about 
him, we will get Doctor Foster,” 
said Father Black Ink Spot. 

“Oh, I do hope he has not gone 
to Gloster again,” said Mother 
Black Ink Spot, “for the baby is 
breaking out now.” 

So Father Black Ink Spot hur¬ 
ried away and in a very short while 
he was back again with Doctor 
Foster. 

The doctor said there could be 
no mistake about it—all the little 
Ink Spots had the measles and 
would have to be kept in the 
house for a long while. 

“The people of Mother Goose 




• 2 ^ 



104 


The Adventures 



Garden will be very sorry to hear 
this,” said Doctor Foster, “for they 
enjoyed the picnic so much and 
were planning to give you a good 
time in return. As the measles 
are catching, they can not come to 
see you, but I am sure that you 
will hear from them soon, for they 
are friendly people and always 
find some way to help.” 

And sure enough, they did find 
some way to help. The time 
seemed very long to the Ink Spot 
children, for they were not sick 
enough after the first few days to 
stay in bed and take Doctor Fos¬ 
ter’s medicine. 






Of the Ink Spots 105 


One day when they were long¬ 
ing for something to do, Thankful 
Red Ink Spot, who was looking 
out of the window, cried, “Oh, 
here comes some one! It is Miss 
Muffet and Little Jack Horner. 
They have a large basket tied with 
red ribbon.” 

“I wonder what can be in the 
basket,” said Lazy Black Ink Spot. 

Jack Horner waved his hand 
when he came near and called out 
in a loud voice that they were sorry 
they could not come in, but that 
they had brought all the riddle 
they could find in Mother Goose 
Garden for the Ink Spots to guess. 
















lo 6 The Adventures 



Each little folded paper in the bas¬ 
ket contained a riddle, and down 
in the very bottom of the basket 
was a prize for the one who 
guessed the most riddles. 

When Jack Horner had 
screamed all this information out 
as loudly as he could, he and Little 
Miss Muffet ran away as fast as 
possible, for they knew that the 
little Ink Spot children wanted to 
look at the riddles without any de¬ 
lay. 

Mother Red Ink Spot went out 
and brought in the basket. First, 
she took out all the little folded 
papers and put them on the table. 






Of the Ink Spots 107 


and when she came to the prize 
at the bottom of the basket she 
clapped her hands and cried, 
“Oh! oh! oh!” 

All the little Ink Spots crowded 
around, and what do you think 
they saw? Right in the bottom of 
the basket was Jack Horner’s 
Christmas pie, made of the very 
best and biggest plums. On top 
of the pie was a little white card 
tied to a large bow of red ribbon. 
On the card was written, “For the 
Little Ink Spot who guesses the 
most riddles.” 

“Well,” said Mother Red Ink 
Spot, “we will take them one at a 






io8 The Adventures 


time. You sit down, and I will 
read the first one.” Then she un¬ 
folded the first paper and read: 



“ ‘In marble walls as white as milk, 
Lined with a skin as soft as silk; 
Within a fountain crystal clear, 

A golden apple doth appear. 

No doors there are to this stronghold, 
Yet thieves break in and steal the 
gold.’ ” 


“I know what that is,” said Slim 
Lim. “It is an egg.” 

“I don’t see how you get that,” 
said Pouty Black Ink Spot. 

“Stupid!” said Slim Lim. “The 
shell is the marble wall. It is cer- 





Of the Ink Spots I09 


tainly as white as milk, and if you 
break the shell you will find a skin 
inside as soft as silk. There is 
clear water inside of this skin and 
a golden apple, the yolk of the egg, 
inside of that. There are no doors 
to the egg-shell, but you were the 
thief who broke in this morning 
and stole the gold, for didn’t you 
eat an egg for breakfast this morn¬ 
ing?” 

Then they all laughed while 
Mother Red Ink Spot opened the 
second paper and read: 



“ ‘Riddle-me, riddle-me, riddle-me- 
ree, 







no The Adventures 


Perhaps you can tell what this riddle 
may be: 

As deep as a house, as round as a cup, 
And all the King’s horses can’t draw 
it up.’ ” 



This puzzled the Ink Spots very 
much until Mother Black Ink 
Spot said, “It is where Little 
Johnny Green put the cat.” 

“Oh, it is a well,” said Thankful 
Red Ink Spot. 

“Here is a long one,” said 
Mother Red Ink Spot. 


‘ “ ‘There was a little green house. 
And in the little green house 
There was a little brown house. 
And in the little brown house 









Of the Ink Spots m 


There was a little yellow house, 
And in the little yellow house 
There was a little white house, 
And in the little white house 
There was a little heart’ ” 

‘'Oh, it is a walnut,” said Happy 
Red Ink Spot. 

“You are good guessers,” said 
Mother Red Ink Spot. “Here is 
one you ought to know: 



‘Formed long ago, yet made to-day. 
Employed while others sleep; 

What few would like to give away, 
Nor any wish to keep.’ ” 

They had such a hard time 
guessing this that Mother Red Ink 



«20 



112 The Adventures 



Spot had to give them some help. 

“It is where Doctor Foster made 
you stay while you were sick with 
th5 measles.” 

“A bed! A bed!” shouted Slim 
Lim. 

“This is the last riddle,” said 
Mother Red Ink Spot, “and when 
you have guessed this one we shall 
see who gets the pie. 



“ ‘Long legs, crooked thighs, 
Little head, and no eyes.’ ” 

No one could guess this, so 
Mother Red Ink Spot had to tell 
them that it is a pair of tongs. 
“Now,” said Mother Red Ink 








Of the Ink Spots 113 

Spot, “Slim Lim gets the nice pie.” 

“I should not enjoy eating it by 
myself,” said Slim Lim. “Cut it 
in small pieces and we will each 
have a slice.” 

Mother Red Ink Spot said that 
as Slim Lim had really won the 
pie, he ought to be allowed to put 
in his thumb and pull out a plum 
and say, “What a smart boy am 
I!” 









IX 

THE INK SPOTS 60 TO SCHOOL 

OW happy all the little 
Ink Spots were when 
Doctor Foster came 
and took down the 
their home which read 

“MEASLES — KEEP OUT.” 

He told them that they could all 

114 



sign from 















The Ink Spots 115 


go out the next day, but that they 
must be careful and not take cold. 

“School begins to-morrow, 
Doctor,” said Mother Black Ink 
Spot. “Shall I send these chil¬ 
dren?” 

“Oh, yes, send them right along, 
if it is bright and sunny; but if it 
is at all damp, keep them in.” 

The next day was bright an 
sunny, and all the little Ink Spots 
took their books, and each one 
took a large red apple and two 
slices of bread with butter and jam 
between them and trudged off to 
school. 

The schoolhouse was up on 





Ii6 The Adventures 


Primrose Hill and who do you 
think was the teacher? Why the 
Crooked Man, and he did not look 
crooked at all as he sat behind his 
desk. He smiled a crooked smile 
as each of the children came in. 
► The funny thing about it was that 
as long as you were good his 
crooked smile seemed really pleas¬ 
ant, but when you were bad, his 
^ crooked smile seemed dreadfully 
crooked and horrid. When you 
were good and he pointed a 
crooked finger at you, you felt 
really good inside, but when you 
were bad and he pointed a crooked 









Of the Ink Spots 117 

finger at you, you felt all shaky 
and queer. 

The first thing that the Crooked 
Man asked them was, “Are your > 

hands clean?” 

Then all the children from 
Mother Goose Garden and all the 
Ink Spots held up their hands, 

Little Betty Blue’s hands were not 
clean, for she had lost her holiday 
shoe and while looking for it she 
had soiled her hands. 

“We must keep our hands and 
our faces clean,” said the Crooked 
Man. “Our little clock sets a 
good example for us. Its hands 








Il8 The Adventures 

and face are always clean. You 
may all say this memory gem with 
me: 



“ ‘There is a neat little clock, 
In the schoolroom it stands, 
And it points to the time 
With its two little hands. 
And may we, like the clock. 
Keep a face clean and bright. 
With hands ever ready 
To do what is right’ ” 


‘‘Now/’ said the Crooked Man, 
“let us see how well Humpty 
Dumpty can count. Humpty 
Dumpty, you count and we will 
say the rhyme: 



Of the Ink Spots 

‘One, two, 

Buckle my shoe; 

Three, four. 

Shut the door; 

Five, SIX, 

Pick up sticks; 

Seven, eight. 

Lay them straight; 

Nine, ten, 

A good fat hen; 

Eleven, twelve. 

Who will delve? 
Thirteen, fourteen, 
Maids a-courting; 
Fifteen, sixteen. 

Maids in the kitchen; 
Seventeen, eighteen. 
Maids a-waiting; 
Nineteen, twenty. 

My plate’s empty.’ ” 



119 



. 4 , 








120 


The Adventures 



“That is fine,” said the Crooked 
Man. “Tweedle-Dum, you are so 
small and can count only to ten, 
so you may say your rhyme.” 

Tweedle-Dum stood up with 
her finger in her mouth and said: 


“ ‘One, two, three, four, five, 

I caught a fish alive; 

Six, seven, eight, nine, ten, 

I let it go again. 

Why did you let it go? 
Because it bit my finger so. 
Which finger did it bite? 

The little finger on the right.’ ” 


Then all the pupils laughed and 
clapped their hands and the 




Of the Ink Spots I2I 

Crooked Man laughed a great, 
big crooked laugh. 

“We will now have our letters,” 
said the Crooked Man. “Stand 
in a row and each one take your 
turn. A was an Apple Pie. Each 



one must in turn tell what hap- 
pened to it. Use each letter of 
the alphabet as it comes. If any 
one of you makes a mistake, he 
will have to sit down at once. 
Ready. Begin.” 

“ ‘A was an apple pie,’ ” said 
Humpty Dumpty. 


“ ‘B bit it,’ ” said Miss Muffet. 


“ ‘C cut it,’ ” said Little Jack 
Horner. 





122 The Adventures 


“ ‘D dealt it,’ ” said Mistress 
Mary. 

“ ‘E eat it,’ ” said Jill. 

“T fought for it,’ ” said Jack. 

“ ‘G got it,’ ” said Tommy 
Tucker. 

“ ‘H had it,’ ” said Inky Black 
Ink Spot. 

“I-I-I-I-I-I don’t know,” said 
Nan Etticoat. 

“That is all right,” said the 
Crooked Man. “I is not in it. 
Take J.” 

“ ‘J joined it,’ ” said Nan Etti¬ 
coat, smiling again. 

“‘K kept it!’” said Margery 
Daw. 









Of the Ink Spots 123 


“ ‘L longed for it,’ ” said Roly- 
Poly Black Ink Spot. 

“ ‘M mourned for it,’ ” said 
Slim Lim Black Ink Spot. 

“ ‘N nodded at it,’ ” said Jack 
Be Nimble. 

“ ‘O opened it,’ ” said Tommy 
Tucker. 

“ ‘P peeped at it,’ ” said Pouty 
Black Ink Spot. 

“ ‘Q quartered it,’ ” said Ruby 
Red Ink Spot. 

“ ‘R ran for it,’ ” said Happy 
Red Ink Spot. 

“ ‘S stole it,’ ” said Grouchy Red 
Ink Spot, who happened to be next 
in the row. 










124 The Adventures 


“ ‘T took it,’ ” said Thankful 
Red Ink Spot. 


“ ‘U-U-U,’ ” stammered Lazy 



Black Ink Spot. 

“U isn’t in it,” said the Crooked 
Man. “Go on to V.” 

“ ‘V viewed it,’ ” said Lazy 
Black Ink Spot. 

“ ‘W wanted it,’ ” said Little 
Boy Blue. 

“ ‘X, Y and Z all wished for a 
piece,’ ” said Cross-Patch. 

“You have all had splendid les¬ 
sons,” said the Crooked Man. 
“Now eat your lunch and we will 
all go home by Old King Cole’s 





Of the Ink Spots 125 


castle and hear his three famous 
fiddlers. Then we will stop by 
the Queen of Hearts and get some 
of her delicious tarts.” 








X 

THE zoo 

IN MOTHER GOOSE GABDEN 



HE Crooked Man 
is going to take us to 
the zoo,” said Thank¬ 
ful Red Ink Spot one 

morning. 

“When?” asked Cross-Patch 
Black Ink Spot. 

“To-morrow, if we are all good 

126 
















127 


The Ink Spots 


and know our letters and keep our 
hands clean and say ‘Yes, Sir’ and 
‘No, Sir’ and are not late like A 
Diller, A Dollar, A Ten O’clock 
Scholar.” 

‘‘Where is the zoo?” asked 
Father Red Ink Spot. “I thought 
that I had been all over Mother 
Goose Garden, but I can’t remem¬ 
ber having seen a zoo.” 

‘‘It is near the house that Jack 
built, in that pretty green park 
that slopes down to the sea. The 
Crooked Man says that all the 
queer animals of Mother Goose 
Garden are there.” 

Such a happy crowd as they 























128 The Adventures 



were the next day when they all 
left the school house for a visit to 
the zoo. The Crooked Man took 
them by the crooked stile and 
found another crooked sixpence. 
He said that he had heard: 

“ ‘There was an old woman 
Sold puddings and pies; 

She went to the hill, 

And the dust flew in her eyes. 

Now through the streets, 

To all she meets. 

She ever cries, 

“Hot pies—Hot pies”!’ ” 


He said if he met her he would 
certainly buy some of her hot pies. 






Of the Ink Spots 129 


After a long walk they reached 
the zoo. First they visited the 
cages where the birds were kept. 
They saw the owl that lived in an 
oak. On his cage was a large 
card with this verse printed on it: 

“There was an old owl lived in an oak, 
Wisky, wasky, weedle; 

And every word he ever spoke 
Was fiddle, faddle, feedle. 

A gunner chanced to come that way, 
Wisky, wasky, weedle; 

Says he, T’ll shoot you, silly bird,’ 
Fiddle, faddle, feedle.” 



They saw Cock Robin and the 
Sparrow that could shoot with a 





130 


The Adventures 



bow and arrow, the Linnet that 
could bear a torch, the Lark that 
acted as the clerk, the Dove that 
was chief mourner, the Thrush 
that sang the dirge. In fact, they 
found in the zoo all the birds of 
which they had heard in the story 
of Cock Robin. 

Then they visited the cage in 
which Little Jenny Wren was 
kept. Her story was also written 
on a large card and tied to her 
cage. It read: 

“As little Jenny Wren 
Was sitting by the shed, 

She waggled with her tail. 

And nodded with her head. 






Of the Ink Spots 



She waggled with her tail, 
And nodded with her head, 
As little Jenny Wren 
Was sitting by the shed.” 


After they had seen all the birds, 
they went to see the animals. 
They saw six little mice in a large 
cage. In the cage was a tiny spin¬ 
ning-wheel, and on a large card 
tied to the cage was this verse, 
which told the story of the six little 
mice, and at the same time told 
how clever they were: 




^‘Six little mice sat down to spin, 

Puss passed by, and she peeped in. 
‘What are you doing, my pretty men?’ 















132 The Adventures 

‘We’re making coats for gentlemen.’ 
‘Shall I come in and bite your threads 
off?’ 

‘No, no, Miss Puss, you’ll bite our 
heads off!’ ” 

In the next cage they saw John 
Cook’s little grey mare. The 
children begged the Crooked Man 
to tell them something about the 
horse, but the Crooked Man said 
that Little Jack Horner could read 
so well he would let him read the 
verse on the card which was tied to 
the cage. And this is what little 
Jack Horner read: 


“ ‘John Cook had a little gray mare; 
He, haw, hum! 








Of the Ink Spots 133 



Her back stood up, and her bones they 
were bare, 

He, haw, hum! 


“ ‘John Cook was riding up Shuter’ 
bank; 

He, haw, hum! 

And there his nag did kick and prank 
He, haw, hum! 


“ ‘John Cook was riding up Shuter’s 
hill; 

He, haw, hum! 

His mare fell down, and she made her 
will; 

He, haw, hum! 

“ ‘The bridle and saddle were laid on 
the shelf; 

He, haw, hum! 





134 The Adventures 

If you want any more you may sing it 
yourself; 

He, haw, hum!’ ” 

“Oh!” cried Roly-Poly Black 
Ink Spot, “look at those five little 
pigs in that dear little house! 
There is one with a market-basket, 
one sitting at a table reading, one 
sitting at a table eating roast beef, 
and look at that one pouting. 
There is a tiny little one crying 
outside.” 

“Those are the five little pigs,” 
said Ruby Red Ink Spot. “We 
have heard about them before. 
Don’t you remember Boy Scrib¬ 
ble loved to hear about them when 







' Of the Ink Spots I35 

Mrs. Scribble took off his shoes 
at night. I can hear her now: 


“ ‘This little pig went to market; 

This little pig stayed at home; 

This little pig had roast beef; 

This little pig had none; 

This little pig said, “Wee, wee, wee, 
I can’t find my way home!” ’ ” 

“My, look at that lion and that 
queer animal with only one horn 
fighting!” said Slim Lim Black 
Ink Spot. “Read that card and 
see what it says, Little Jack Hor- 



“ ‘The lion and the unicorn 
Were fighting for the crown; 






The Adventures 


The lion beat the unicorn 
All around about the town. 
Some gave them white bread, 
And some gave them brown; 
Some gave them plum-cake, 
And sent them out of town.’ ” 



“What a tiny pig!” said Jill. 
“I never saw that here before.” 

“That is Jack Sprat’s pig,” said 
the Crooked Man. 


“ ‘J^^k Sprat’s pig. 

He was not very little. 

Nor yet very big; 

He was not very lean. 

He was not very fat; 

“He’ll do well for a grunt,” 
Says little Jack Sprat.’ ” 








Of the Ink Spots 137 

“Oh, there is poor old Goosey, 
Goosey, Gander,” said Miss Muf- 
fet. “Listen, I’ll ask him a ques¬ 
tion and he will answer: 

“ ‘Goosey, Goosey, Gander, 
Where dost thou wander?’ ” 

Then Goosey, Goosey, Gander 
turned his head on one side and 
answered: 

“ ‘Up-stairs and down-stairs. 

And in my lady’s chamber. 

There I met an old man 

Who would not say his prayers, 

I took him by the left leg 

And threw him down the stairs.’ ” 

“You must be quiet now, chil- 




138 The Adventures 

dren,” said the Crooked Man, “for 
we are coming to the cage where 
the three blind mice are kept. 
Since the farmer’s wife cut off 
their tails with a carving-knife 
they have been very timid. You 
may read the verse on the card, 
but do it very quietly.” 

Then Inky Black Ink Spot read: 

“ ‘Three blind mice, see how they run! 
They all ran after the farmer’s wife, 
Who cut off their tails with the carv¬ 
ing-knife. 

Did ever you see such a sight in your 
life. 

As three blind mice?’ ” 











Of the Ink Spots 139 

As they walked away from this 
cage, a large frog, all dressed in 
gay clothes and carrying a fancy 
walking-cane, passed them. 

“That is the Frog Who Would^^^, 
A-wooing Go,” whispered the^"" 
Crooked Man. “Isn’t he fine- 
looking?” 

They watched the frog until he 
was out of sight. Then Cross- 
Patch cried out, “Look at that little 
black hen in that cage! She looks 
so proud!” 

“No wonder she looks proud,” 
said the Crooked Man. “Listen 
what they have to say about her: 








140 The Ink Spots 



“ ‘Higgledy, piggledy, my black hen, 
She lays eggs for gentlemen; 
Sometimes nine, and sometimes ten, 
Higgledy, piggledy, my black hen.’ 

“Now we shall have to hurry, 
for I promised to have you all at 
home before the sun went down. 
I will show you the Pig that Flew 
up in the Air and the Mouse that 
Ran up the Clock, and then we 
must hurry home.” 



J 


J 





XI 

THE LITTLE PEOPLE OF 
MOTHER GOOSE GARDEN 
GIVE A FAIR 



SI DEAR! O dear!” 
sighed the old Woman 
Who Lived in a Shoe. 
“My shoe leaks dread¬ 
fully every time it rains and I do 
not believe it can be mended, for 
it has leaked so long. Nothing 
except a new roof will do it any 
good.” 



141 




















/ 


142 The Adventures 





“Why don’t you put a new roof 
on it?” asked Father Black Ink 
Spot. 

“I haven’t the money,” said the 
Old Woman Who Lived in a 
Shoe. 

“So many things in Mother 
Goose Garden need attention,” 
said Jack Sprat. “I notice that 
the well on Primrose Hill where 
Jack and Jill go so often for water 
is all falling in. Mistress Mary’s 
garden needs a new fence, and the 
latch on Cross-Patch’s door is 
broken.” 

“The Crooked Man’s house is 
ready to tumble over. It is get- 



Of the Ink Spots 143 

ting more crooked every day,” said 
Mother Hubbard, “and the fence 
is down so that Little Boy Blue’s 
cows get in the meadow and his 
sheep get in the corn.” 

“Primrose Hill needs to be 
thoroughly cleaned, too,” said Sol¬ 
omon Grundy, “and London 
Bridge is falling down.” 

“Well,” said Father Black Ink 
Spot, 

“ ‘For every evil under the sun, 

There is a remedy, or there is none, 

If there is one, seek till you find it; 

If there is none, never mind it.’ 

“I can tell you one thing we can 


\ 






• « > 

. 'V V 



144 Adventures 

do. We can each one use his tal¬ 
ents. There is some one thing 
that we can each do well. Winter 
is coming, and we shall have only 
a few more warm days. Suppose 
we have a fair and let every one in 
Mother Goose Garden bring 
something to sell. Those who do 
not have a talent for making things 
can furnish amusement for the 
crowd, and we will have a little 
concert at the fair. The money 
we get from it can be used to clean 
up and put Mother Goose Garden 
in good shape.” 

“How clever you are. Father 
Black Ink Spot,” said Mother 





\ 














Of the Ink Spots 145 

Hubbard. “We will certainly do 
as you say. Let’s have this fair 
Wednesday afternoon.’’ 

“Agreed,” said Jack Sprat. 
“I’ll go home and tell my wife.” 

They decided to have the fair at 
the schoolhouse on Primrose Hill. 
When Wednesday came the hill 
was as clean as could be, for 
Crooked Man had all the children 
from the school go out and clean 
it up on Wednesday morning. 
They had long tables on the school 
grounds where all the things they 
had to sell were placed. 

Jack Sprat and his wife had 
saved up all their fat and lean meat 







146 The Adventures 



and brought a fine basket of sand¬ 
wiches. Little Boy Blue and Bo- 
Peep brought nice white wool 
from their sheep. Cross-Patch 
said she had nothing to bring, but 
she could sit by her fire and spin 
this wool into thread. The Three 
Wise Men of Gotham brought 
some shells they had found in the 
sea, and Baby Bunting brought 
the rabbit-skin her father had gone 
hunting to find. The Jolly Mil¬ 
ler, who lived on the River Dee, 
brought flour and the pieman 
made it up into pies, while Peter, 
Peter, Pumpkin-Eater gave the 
pumpkin with which to fill them. 





Of the Ink Spots 147 

Curly Locks brought some of 
her fine sewing. Jack Horner 
brought one of his Christmas pies. 
The Old Woman Who Lived in a 
Shoe brought some of her famous 
broth. Doctor Foster brought 
an umbrella which he had bought 
in Cluster. The Man Who Was 
Wondrous Wise brought a beau¬ 
tiful little rack for hats, made from 
the bramble-bush. Peter Piper 
brought a peck of pickled pep¬ 
pers. Bobby Shaftoe said he had 
thought a great deal about what 
he should bring and that he had 
decided that his silver buckles 
would sell better than anything 




148 


The Adventures 



else, as they had been talked about 
so much. The Queen of Hearts 
brought some tarts. Tommy Trot 
brought his wife’s looking-glass. 
Mistress Mary brought flowers 
from her garden. Jack Be Nim¬ 
ble brought some pink-and-blue 
bandies. Old King Cole sent his 
three fiddlers and they played all 
the time while the things were be¬ 
ing sold. 

After the last tiny thing was 
sold, Tommy Tucker sang a song 
and Inky Black Ink Spot and 
Ruby Red Ink Spot gave a fancy 
dance. 



Of the Ink Spots ^49 

And what do you think? When 
they had finished they found they 
had one hundred and twenty-seven 
dollars and nine cents. This was 
quite enough to put a roof on the 
shoe, repair the well on Primrose 
Hill, put up a new fence for Mis¬ 
tress Mary and one for Little Boy 
Blue, put on a new lock for Cross- 
Patch, and make the Crooked 
Man’s house so that even the^ 
strong winter winds would not 
blow it over. 

When they had finished all these 
things they found that they had 
just fifty dollars left, which was 










ISO The Ink Spots 



just enough to repair London 
Bridge. And when they had used 
the last penny, Mother Goose 
Garden was just as neat as a pin. 
















( 



XII 

MRS. SCRIBBLE FINDS THE 
INK SPOTS AND TAKES TMM 
BACK HOME 

T was well that Mother 
Goose Garden was put 
in order, for only a 
few days after the 
fair it turned very cold. If the 
latch had not been in order on 

151 



















152 The Adventures 



Cross-Patch’s door, the high wind 
would have blown it open and 
Cross-Patch would have been 
crosser than ever. 

Then came two days of cold 
rain, and if the roof had not been 
snug and tight on the shoe, the old 
woman and her twenty-four chil¬ 
dren would have been drenched. 
As it was, they were very comfort¬ 
able and said over and over again 
to each other that they were cer¬ 
tainly glad that Father Black Ink 
Spot had thought of the fair, for 
it had helped Mother Goose Gar¬ 
den a great deal. 

After the rain it turned colder 



Of the Ink Spots I53 


still, and the Ink Spots shivered 
and wondered how they could ever 
stand the cold winter which was 
certainly very near. 

“My, that cut-glass ink-bottle 
would feel comfortable now!” 
said Grandmother Red Ink Spot 
as she drew her shawl up close 
around her shoulders. 

“This garden is a very comfort¬ 
able place in summer,” said Father 
Red Ink Spot, “but I am afraid I 
shall have to look for warmer 
quarters before winter comes.” 

He was saved this trouble, how¬ 
ever, for the very next day Happy 
Red Ink Spot and Cross-Patch 



■J 


The Adventures 


154 

Black Ink Spot were playing in 
the sand-pile down by the garden 
gate, when who should come 
through the gate into the garden 
but Mr. and Mrs. Scribble and 
Boy Scribble! 

“Oh!” cried Happy Red Ink 
[Spot. 

“Oh!” cried Cross-Patch Black 
Ink Spot. 

But no one noticed them, even 
though Boy Scribble stopped quite 
near Happy Red Ink Spot and 
picked up a piece of broken china. 

“Let’s run and tell all the other 
Ink Spots,” said Happy Red Ink 
Spot. 











Of the Ink Spots 155 


“Let’s,” said Cross-Patch Black 
Ink Spot. 

So away they ran as fast as they 
could, and reached the corner 
where the Ink Spots made their 
home long before the Scribbles 
came up. 

“ Mr. and Mrs. Scribble and 
Boy Scribble are in the garden,” 
cried both of the children at once. 
“We were playing on the sand-pile 
and they passed, but they did not 
see us.” 

“I wonder,” said Grandmother 
Red Ink Spot, “if they can be look¬ 
ing for us. I don’t believe I want 
to go back after all.” 






156 The Adventures 

“Why, only this morning,” said 
Mother Red Ink Spot, “you were 
wishing for the warm cut-glass 
ink-bottle house.” 

“That was when she thought 
there was no chance of getting 
back,” said Father Red Ink Spot. 

Just then Mr. and Mrs. Scribble 
and Boy Scribble came up. Boy 
Scribble spied the cloth on which 
the Black Ink Spots rested, and, 
clutching it in his tiny hand, cried, 
“Da, da, see!” 

“My! My!” cried Mrs. Scrib¬ 
ble. “How could that ever have 
come here! It is a piece of my 
wedding dress. I had only one 




Of the Ink Spots 157 


piece left and I was saving that so 
carefully. I always thought that 
Boo meddled in my sewing-basket, 
and now I feel certain that he did, 
for I remember that I have not 
seen that piece since the day Boy 
Scribble upset the ink on your 
desk. And look! There is a 
piece of my wedding traveling- 
suit 1” she cried as she picked up 
the cloth from which the Red Ink 
Spots were staring in surprise. 
“I’ll take these pieces home and 
see if I can’t have them thoroughly 
cleaned.” 

And that is how Inky Black Ink 
Spot, Roly-Poly Black Ink Spot, 




158 


The Ink Spots 


/■•■'A 





Slim Lim Black Ink Spot, Pouty 
Black Ink Spot, Lazy Black Ink 
Spot, Cross-Patch Black Ink Spot, 
Father Black Ink Spot, Mother 
Black Ink Spot and Baby Black 
Ink Spot escaped spending the 
winter in Mother Goose Garden. 

And that is how Ruby Red Ink 
Spot, Happy Red Ink Spot, 
Grouchy Red Ink Spot, Thankful 
Red Ink Spot, Grandmother Red 
Ink Spot, Grandfather Red Ink 
Spot, Baby Red Ink Spot, Mother 
Red Ink Spot and Father Red 
Ink Spot found their way back to 
the home of Mr. Scribble again. 









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